Friday, March 03, 2006

Enough Sleep

It is strange what happens when I get more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep at night.Last night I think slept almost 5. I was able to think clearly, take all the myriad of stimuli that I have to deal with on Fridays and assimilate it, put it in the place it belonged. Deal with my little workplace world in a much easier, calmer, "go with the flow" manner.

Several things happened today, that in retrospect seem wonderful now, each in their own small way.

I met with several of my clients today.Two sets of couples, both have been married for 65 or more years, still completely in love with each other. It is such an amazing thing to witness. Their thought processes are so similar. One glance, one raise of an eyebrow, and they know exactly what the other is thinking. They communicate in one word sentences, if they speak at all. I always smile the entire I am with them. What I find so amazing is that I have so much in common with them. With Couple #1, it is the love of the written word, he is a published poet, originator of a small publishing house back in the 1960's, he wanted to make sure poets were able to get published. She also wrote, was published, they never had children. Their writing, their university life, each other, was/is their lives.Couple #2, he is a woodworker, showing me their small apartment filled with evidence of his work. His profession was that of a housepainter, he did most of the talking, she would add a word occasionally just to jog his memory. He spoke of all the chemicals that had been absorbed by his skin over the years. What amazed me, was that I knew of the majority of these chemicals, their dangers, their effects on the body. Maybe that comes from being a farmer's wife, or the fact that I spent most of the past 28 some years, dealing with a variety of chemicals found when you farm, or do your own construction. We were able to connect on a level that I rarely find with people of my own generation. She spoke of her life very little, but she is very ill. Their world now consists of how much time she can spend out of the house, and how he will deal with transporting her walker, her wheel chair, to accomplish the small tasks that make up their days, weeks, months. She did speak of her collection of African Violets, again a subject I am familar with, not in any real way, just the knowledge that comes from keeping them growing, blooming, the best window light they respond too.

My third client of the day, once again reinforced my personal philosophy--that no matter how bad things may seem, something good comes from them---this particular client...I will call her Miss Anxiety, has for years maintained she had PSTD (post traumatic stress disorder). With no doctor willing to back up her self-diagnosis. In addition, due to a myriad of factors, she has been estranged from her family for well over 25 years. Two months ago, Miss Anxiety was mugged and stabbed. At death's door for 3 days, she is now fully recovered, and happier than she has been in years. She has now been diagnosed with PSTD (this makes her happy in a whiny anxiety ridden way), and her children, and other relatives rallied to her side when she was in intensive care. They can now also accept her hypochondriacal whining, they feel she has a true reason. My reason for visiting her was one that I am really not supposed to do,but she called me today, telling me of how badly the cold wind had harmed her lungs earlier in the day "I just know I am going to get bronchitus again", her car was broken, and she was in need of food. So me being who I am, and having no staff to send to her home, volunteered to do this task for her. I have done it many times in the past for many of our more homebound clients, this is frowned upon by the agency I work for but, three things usually guide my decision; one-what the agency doesn't know won't hurt them, two-the client has a need, and 3-the best part of my job is my clients. Anyway, I was a tad perturbed when I arrived at her apartment to find that her shopping list consisted of 4 items. 4 non-essential items I might add. But, I did it, I was already there, and I have always been a soft touch. Plus I could also sneak in a comment about her hoarding behavior (she finds it very difficult to discard of the daily newspaper, there may still be an article she has missed or have a need to refer back to), and compliment her on the small strides she had made. So, with Miss Anxiety, a stabbing has made her life better than it has been in 25 some odd years.

As I entered the entryway to have her buzz me into her building, two other clients were in the lobby, I smiled and waved to them, one of them gestured to have me come closer. She reached up for a hug, and whispered in my ear, "You have been touched by an angel." As I stood back up, I looked up at her questioningly, thinking how could she know I was doing this small favor. She then said, "You have a dimple in each cheek when you smile, the angels have touched you." I smiled again, wished them a good afternoon, and continued on my way. But I couldn't seem to forget what she had said. Where did that saying come from? And, how come in 46 years of living, of having dimples on my cheeks, have I never heard that saying before? So I googled it. Couldn't find it. But, you know what? It was one more small thing that made my day.

8 comments:

It is the little things that make our day - if only we all could realize that. Today a parent told me that he felt our school was worth all the money he paid simply because I cared enough to be totally frustrated over the fact that his son was failing. How often does that happen?

Not often enough, and it truly says a lot about you that you are frustrated that he is not reaching his potential. The teachers I deal with unfortunately do not have the time to contact us when our children are experiencing problems, so for many it goes unnoiticed until it is too late.

Yes, it is the little things, some so small that would seem very insignificant to others.

Too True. Unfortunately the reverse is true. Sometimes I say something - off the cuff - about a child and I find out - sometime several years later - that what I said stuck with them for their lives. I remember one graduate who, after 5 years away, came back for a visit and mentioned something (thankfully positive) that I had said (which I did not remember) which they had taken to heart and had used to pattern their life after. Scary stuff being a teacher.

Yes, it is a large responsibilty, I myself have memories of things a teacher said to me, that drove decisions I made in my life. But, you realize it, so you know that what you say has an affect, thus your comments are (even if unconsciously) driven in the right direction...

You have a nice way of telling these stories about your clients, and your smile is beautiful. Why didn't clint no. 3 just give you the list over the phone so you could have stopped on your way to her home? I suppose she just wanted company. I get a lot of the same self-diagnosing people who essentially enjoy the "people" attention they get from seeing someone. How can I get to be one of your clients?

phil--thank you, i do love my clients, even Miss Anxiety, 25% percent of my caseload suffer from a mental disability...so to become one of my clients you need to be really old (20% are over age 85), or you need to be physically or mentally disabled....I don't want any of that for you....maybe I need to start a whole new 'blogger' client base ;)

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"When it's over, I don't want to wonder if I have made my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world."
~Mary Oliver~